Detours
by Sophprosyne
Summary: Gon doesn't just want to find Ging Freecss. He wants to understand him. And he'll travel the length of the world, and deal with the deadliest of monsters, if that's what it takes.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

"You should enjoy the little detours to the fullest. Because that's where you'll find the things more important than what you want."

― Ging Freecss

The sea slackened after the storm.

Gon had been instructed by two of the burliest crewmembers that he was to see the captain in his quarters. Kurapika and Leorio were told to stay behind. Initially they looked ready to disobey that order—Leorio's fists were already clenched and Kurapika was stroking his wooden swords, a measured look in his eyes—but Gon assured them that it would be fine. The captain hadn't seemed like the sort of man who would suddenly try to hurt him, even if it was odd that he was so insistent on Gon coming alone.

The captain's quarters were in the bowels of the ship. One of the sailors led the way. He seemed unbothered by the rolling and rocking of the ship as it crested and fell across the ocean.

Gon tried to emulate his walk; there was a fraction of a second after each foot came down where the sailor tested his balance and the security of his footing, before a sudden planting of the heel, to make sure he wouldn't be thrown by an unexpected wave. It didn't work. He supposed it was something he would need to practice.

The sailor left him in the front of the captain's quarters. He knocked and entered. The room wasn't as he had expected. There was a small desk, riveted to the ship's boards, which was covered by neatly organized array of bottles. Each bottle was a variation on the one that came before, in fact. Filgram's Finest Rum, the bottles read. The designs all differed, some in small ways and others in greater, but they were unmistakably the same.

It was an odd sort of things to collect, but the captain did have an unmistakable fondness for drink (just one of the many character flaws that Aunt Mito had warned him about). The bottles came in various shapes and sizes, from short fat canisters to willowy decanters, with colors varying from light green and muddy brown to abject black and perfect transparency. Those near the back of the desk showed signs of age, with dust settling on the inside, the label peeling, and the colors fading out, while those nearer the front could have been sitting on a store shelf somewhere.

"Like my collection, do you boy?" the captain asked. He took a sip from a new bottle of Filgram's Finest he was pawing in one hand. There was a matching one near the front of the desk.

"You must drink a lot to have so many bottles," Gon said.

For whatever reason, that captain found that greatly amusing. He let out a shattering laugh that made Gon's head ache and hair stand up on end.

"I need drink like a warrior needs his sword," the captain said. "But I didn't call you down here to talk about that. There's something even more important than a good drink. I wanted to talk to you about Ging Freecs."

Gon slammed his palms on the captain's desk, ignoring the dangerous rattling of the bottles and the captain's taken-aback expression. "That's right! You said you knew Ging."

"Knew might be stretching things just a little. He took passage on this ship to the Hunter Exam and I've heard a thing or two about him since. Just rumors, but the rumors I hear tend to be more reliable than the rumors most people hear."

"Tell me about him," Gon said. His heels rocked up and down, slapping like fins against the musty wooden floorboards.

The captain took another pull from his bottle, this one much deeper. The ache in Gon's head intensified, making thinking more difficult, and his sense of being watched by a predator increased, but his excitement made that easy to ignore.

"You want to know about Ging…hmmm. That's a shame. Now that I think about it, I don't really have any reason to tell you. I'm already doing you enough of a favor dropping you off near the Hunter Exam." The captain examined the label of his bottle. He made irritating hmming and hah noises as he looked it over, like it was some kind of priceless antique.

"What? You're the one who called me down here. You have to tell me!" Gon said.

The captain's bottle smacked onto the table. The sound was unnaturally loud, setting Gon's ears ringing. "I don't have to do anything. If you were to help me with something the story would be different."

"Like a chore?"

"You could call it that."

"Fine! Anything! What is it?"

"I want you to stay with this ship for a couple of months, learn the ropes of the trade. I'm willing to take you on as an apprentice. You've already proved you can sniff out a storm and handle some rough weather. This is the perfect business for you, boy. You'd be useful to us."

"I can't do that. The Hunter Exam is starting soon," Gon said, shaking his head immediately.

The captain laughed. The fuzziness in Gon's head increased. When the captain spoke again, it was like his words only made it partway through his ears; all of the individual pieces were there but it was hard to pick out the general meaning or plan a response.

"I know why you want to be a Hunter and I'll tell you this much—you're being naïve."

"Naïve?"

"Of course you're naïve," the captain said. "You think that if you become a Hunter you'll get Ging's attention, but you're wrong. Ging Freecss cares about the whims of Ging Freecss. That's it. The last thing Ging cares about is being a Hunter."

"You're wrong," Gon said, shaking his head as if that would clear away the fuzziness. "He left Whale Island so that he could become a Hunter."

More laughter and more ringing. "I can't say any more than that, but I promise you, a captain's pledge, you won't impress Ging, or even understand him, by becoming a Hunter."

Gon's fingers tightened around his shoulder where his fishing rod usually rested. He couldn't remember Ging, couldn't be said to owe the man anything, but to hear the captain badmouthing him made Gon tremble with frustration.

The captain went on as if he didn't notice Gon approaching a breaking point. "It's only natural that you want to know about Ging so I'll make you a generous deal."

"Aunt Mito told me not to trust strangers," Gon said, which only served to make the captain laugh once more.

"Your aunt is a smart woman. This is a deal too good to turn down, even for the Hunter Exam. I'll help you find out more about Ging, help you find Ging, and help you get strong enough to understand Ging. All you have to do is stay with the ship until we can track him down."

"I'm going to be a Hunter," Gon said. It was a fact as immutable as the ocean being blue or the sun rising every morning.

Another laugh, another swig of the bottle. "That's fine. I can help you with that too. I know that you want to follow in Ging's footsteps, to understand him, but I swear to you that I was telling you the truth when I said he doesn't care about being a Hunter. He may be important to the organization but he's never considered it important to him. You won't impress him by running off and becoming a Hunter."

"If I pass the Hunter exam then I'll prove that I'm strong. And if I'm strong enough to become a Hunter then I'll be able to find Ging myself."

"Wrong and wrong," the captain said.

Gon's patience with the captain's drunken ramblings came to an end. "How would you even know? What makes you think you understand anything about Ging?" he shouted.

The captain tossed back the rest of the rum and something started to crush the air, making Gon feel like he was drowning, like all of the air had been sucked out of the room. Needles started to prick his skin, somewhere in-between unpleasant and painful. Gon tried to move, to get away from the sensations that were plaguing him, but he found that he had been paralyzed; his body wouldn't respond to any command he made, from his arms to his toes. It was all he could do to move his eyes and continue breathing.

"I know this because I'm a Hunter," the captain said. There was no more cheer in his voice, no sign of the jovial drunk that Gon had seen throughout the trip. A sense of dread, and impending doom, began to fill Gon. He prepared himself for one final attempt, a burst of willpower to break through this uncontainable power that had imprisoned him and that was trying to destroy him.

Then, with the same suddenness that it had struck, the feeling was gone. There was a brief moment of weightlessness, as if he was caught in void, and then Gon felt normal again. He could think clearly, his limbs responded to his commands, and his nose could pick up on the smell of the ocean and the stench of rum.

"A Hunter…" Gon said.

"That's the least of what any self-respecting Hunter can do. You won't learn that from trying the Hunter Exam. I'll teach it to you, along with plenty of other things you never even imagined. And you don't even need to pass a test."

For the first time, Gon felt the touch of indecision. If the captain was telling the truth, and that power was something all Hunters had, then he didn't stand a chance against any of them. Maybe not even against other people taking the exam.

Everything had seemed so simple only an hour ago. He would go to the Hunter Exam, pass it, become a Hunter, and then track down Ging once he finally understood what it meant to be a Hunter. What was so great about it. And the captain claimed that all of that was nonsense.

There was no doubt in his mind that the captain was a genuine Hunter. He could see the truth in every line of the man's body; an unconcealed power and even brutality that were straining around his body like living presences of their own. Despite knowing that he was outmatched, despite knowing that the captain wasn't an enemy, despite knowing that the captain had information about Ging that he wanted, Gon's urge to fight him grew and grew.

It was the first time this feeling had ever struck him. Something like a need to prove himself, but more primal than that. The urge to become stronger. To defeat a great opponent in a battle where they both risked everything to win.

As if he could sense Gon's rising will to fight, the captain's dopey grin started to spread again, and the roiling aura that had been so overpowering now was inhibited and could do nothing but skim along the edges of the captain's body. Gon couldn't quite see it, but now he was aware of its existence, like something out of the corner of his eye, never quite coming into focus.

"I could learn how to do that?" Gon asked.

"It's one of the first things you would learn," the captain said.

"You'll tell me about Ging. You'll help me find Ging. And you'll make me strong," Gon repeated.

"I swear it, on my pride as captain of the _Nami_ ," the captain said. His aura was unsheathed for a second, just long enough for Gon to feel it flare against his body, see it rush beyond the captain's frame, as if in a promise given form, before it was submerged once more deep into the ocean of the captain's self.

"Can you see that?" the captain asked, noticing Gon's expression.

"Uh huh," Gon said.

Surprise, and then calculation blossomed; the kind of look that Gon had seen on the faces of the traders that came to Whale Island. It wasn't a malicious look, but a reflex that he knew had been honed over decades at sea. The captain probably couldn't help that reaction any more than someone could prevent themself from getting seasick.

"Are we agreed?"

A moment's hesitation. Gon had the impression he was turning away from a light so bright he had to squint in its direction, only to turn down an unlit path. "Uh-huh."

"We have a deal then, boy. You'll follow my commands, and I'll have responsibilities toward you in turn. Once we drop off your friends for the Hunter Exam I'm going to put you to work. Enjoy the time you have left with them to say your goodbyes."

Gon knew that someone else might be concerned about the decision that they had just made. It would seem rash and unconsidered. But after having gotten a glimpse at the captain's power, at what made him him, Gon felt like he was putting himself into safe hands. He couldn't say that he understood the man, or knew what he wanted, but the sense of trust and security he felt around the captain had to have sprung from somewhere.

"Now get out of here. I've got some work to do," the captain said. He drew another bottle of Filgram's from beneath his desk and uncorked it.

Gon left the captain's quarters to find Leorio and Kurapika. They wouldn't understand, but that was alright. Together the two of them would pass the Hunter Exam. He just knew it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter I**

Gon shouldered the crate. His body strained with the effort. Sweat dripped down his forehead onto the bridge of his nose, and then dropped to the ground. The bottom of the packing crate was distended and creaked ominously with every movement, a testament to the captain's cheapness. The first mate had warned the captain that the crates weren't suitable for what they were hauling but he had been overridden.

"This isn't what I thought the captain meant when he said he'd train me," Gon said.

"I'm sure that he's got a good reason for all of this," Katzo said. He was struggling with one of the smaller crates. His face was cycling through progressively deeper reds and Gon was worried he was about to keel over. After a few more seconds Katzo set down the crate, realizing that it was out of his weight class.

They had been hauling loaded crates from the warehouse to the ship for the better part of the morning. Bostnew City was, from Gon's point of view, a letdown. The docks were grungy and swarming with watchful thugs who would be inclined to relieve them of their wares were it not for the steady protection of the more capable members among the captain's crew.

Beyond the stretch of docks and warehouses were grungy houses, which resembled shacks more than anything. They were constructed out of rusting sheet metal and some rose to an astonishingly lopsided four stories, leaning in awkward directions and looking as if they were only waiting for the least opportune moment to topple on an unsuspecting passersby.

According to Katzo, who had been listening to some of the older sailors, the city got nicer the further you went away from the docks. The captain hadn't given them any time to discover the truth behind that. They docked, slept in the ship overnight, and then were put to packing up and loading a shipment. Just another in the long line of tedious tasks that Gon had been assigned since making his deal with the captain.

"All he's done since I started working for him is use me to make money," Gon said.

"Maybe he's testing you?"

"By seeing how many boxes I can lift?"

Katzo shrugged. The ship was nearly full. Gon set his crate down near the loading ramp, then did the same to Katzo's. Someone else would put it on the ship. Then he followed Katzo over to a shady spot of the harbor where an old leafy tree grew tall and wide, its roots so long that they grew out of the slope where the harbor fell off into the sea. It offered an impenetrable defense from the blistering sun.

"You could ask him about it," Katzo said.

"I did. He told me that I could question his decisions when I've been part of the crew long enough to 'tell starboard from portside,'" Gon said.

"You did spend the first week being more trouble than help."

"I'm doing my best! I couldn't even make it to the Hunter Exam now, even if I wanted to quit. It started forever ago. I bet Leorio and Kurapika already passed."

"At least you get to see new places?" Katzo said. He had the unfortunate habit of phrasing reassurance as a question, undercutting even his most well-intentioned moments.

"If I don't learn anything interesting soon, either about Ging or fighting, then I'll just go off on my own," Gon said.

"But you made a deal with the captain."

"He promised to help me, too. Loading boxes doesn't count."

The shadows lengthened over Gon's head. "And you think you'll find Ging and get stronger by traipsing about the world at random, I suppose," the captain said. "The only thing you'll find by doing that is an early grave, boy."

Katzo let out an unmanly eep, like a kitten that had its tail yanked. Gon looked back at the captain defiantly; his jaw was set and eyes matched the captain's own.

"It'd be better than loading crates, swabbing the deck, and cooking fishy gruel," Gon said.

"Maybe before you start complaining about what you're doing you should try to emulate Katzo and think about why you're doing it."

Gon looked at Katzo, who didn't appear to have been giving the slightest consideration about why they had been loading the crates.

"This is a Hunter's ship," the captain continued. "We aren't loading these crates because we're a delivery service. The only reason we're putting them on our ship is so every other ship in this harbor _thinks_ that we're delivering them."

Gon scratched his head. He looked at Katzo, who also looked confused. "So are we delivering them or not?" Gon asked.

The captain sighed and muttered something under his breath. It didn't sound complimentary, Gon thought.

"This cargo is bait," the captain said.

"I don't think fish will be interested in these crates," Gon said, looking over the haul with a speculative eye. Unless they were hunting a special fish in particular, this wood wouldn't attract anything. Or maybe the bait was inside of the crates.

The captain quite often ignored Gon, going on as if he hadn't heard anything in the first place. "There's a ship that's been preying on merchants around here for the past few months. The city's paying us to get rid of them. If we make them think that we're carrying a load of precious cargo and then set out to sea, they'll try to hijack the ship and steal the cargo. That's when we nab whoever's in charge, sink their ship, and bring the bastard back to the city in chains."

A fist against the tree punctuated the captain's final decisive comment. The tree rattled in place. Clumps of dirt from unsettled roots spotted Gon and Katzo. The ground around the tree now looked like a jigsaw puzzle with pieces missing. The captain let out his usual laugh at their expressions, then walked away and pulled his flask out of his pocket, singing some bawdy tune as loudly as he could.

"Did you know this was the plan?" Gon asked.

"I thought that this _was_ a cargo ship," Katzo said. He looked a little green in the face to Gon.

"At least this'll be more interesting than loading bait," Gon said.

"I've never been in a fight before."

"I'll teach you. It's not hard. You just move faster and hit harder than the other person. Ohhh, I know. We'll go buy you a fishing rod!"

"A fishing rod?" Katzo asked. He looked dazed as Gon dragged him deeper into the city.

* * *

Madam Okusama took his Hunter's license with a disdainful sneer that only served to strengthen her resemblance to a bloated fish. She was twenty years and a few dozen rich meals past being able to intimidate anyone.

"You've only passed the Hunter Exam in the last week?" she asked again.

"Yes," Killua said. Finding a job suitable for someone with a new license was proving more difficult than he had thought. Most people didn't need someone with a Hunter's skillset, couldn't afford him, or wanted a Hunter with more experience.

If he were taller and older, like Illumi, Killua doubted that anyone would be so eager to talk down to him. He had refrained from leaving a body behind, even when they irritated him, but only because he thought it would make it easier for Illumi to track him down.

Thought this Madam Okusama was seriously testing his willpower. If she made one more snide comment Killua wasn't sure that he would be able to hold himself back any longer, Illumi or no Illumi.

"Very well. You'll do," Okusama said at last. "As I'm sure you appreciate, this job requires the utmost discretion. That means you can't go bragging to any of your little friends about it." Out of sight, Killua's fingertips contorted, sharpened, and lengthened, becoming as cruel and deadly as barbed bayonets. He barely restrained himself from ending her condescension.

"In a few days a ship will be leaving from the harbor," she continued. "It will be laden with some of the finest jewels this country has ever produced. As a collector myself, naturally I can't stand to see this country's proud heritage split apart and sold off to avaricious fools who don't understand or appreciate their true quality. You, and the crew of my ship, will be liberating these jewels before they reach their destination."

"Cool. I've always wanted to be a pirate," Killua said.

Okusama's face took on its fishy look again. "Piracy? I'll thank you not to make such outrageous comparisons again unless you would like me to terminate your employment at once. I do not stand for my subordinates impugning my reputation."

Killua waved a hand dismissively. "Sure, sure. I'll get your jewels. Just make sure you can pay me when I get back. I don't want to stick around this dump of a city any longer than I have to."

Okusama sniffed contemptuously. "That will not pose a problem." She picked up a bell on the end table next to her and gave it a firm ring. A butler appeared within seconds. He ushered Killua out of the mansion without a word. Before he was manhandled out, Killua managed to offer Okusama one last mocking bow, a parting blow that soured her face even further.

The streets around her mansion were sparsely populated. He ambled along the cobbled thoroughfare for a few minutes, taking in the sights of ostentatious wealth. Then he slipped down a side alley and vaulted onto the roof of a building. Bostnew City's suburban area was large, though it was nothing compared to the immensity of the city itself. And even Bostnew couldn't compare to the size of Yorknew, fifty miles to the east.

It did have the advantage of being a port city, with all of the shifty trading and harried faces that such a thing entailed. Killua's home, if he could call it that, was much closer to the harbor, making rooftop travel a necessity unless he wanted to spend all day walking back. Traveling on top of the city afforded him the opportunity to observe the transition from meticulously maintained mansions to rundown tenements, with crowds devolving from sparse and elegant to congested, smelly, and rough. The eternal retreat of the rich from poor in motion.

Killua leapt from rooftop to rooftop, making his way with all speed to the abandoned tenement that he had converted into temporary lodgings. It had the advantage of being out-of-the-way and largely concealed by its surroundings, making it easy to come and go without the notice of any neighbors.

The district it was located in wasn't the most savory in Bostnew. On his way back Killua passed three muggings, one rape, and two attempted murders (the latter of which was about to become successful when he moved away). Such sights only reinforced Killua's notion of the docks as a place fit only for the desperate and the depraved.

A shadow rose up in front of Killua before he could make the final leap into the tenement. He supposed, as he looked at his expressionless brother, that he fell into the desperate category.

"Hello, Kil," Illumi said.

There was an unpleasant vibration in the air that gave Killua goosebumps, like glass scraping against glass. Killua knew his brother too well to try to judge his mood from his expression. Illumi's placid face concealed a vast hungering and lust that a stranger would never be able to pick up on. He was a master at hiding his feelings, at showing only what he wished.

The fact that Illumi had bothered to say anything at all instead of just knocking him out with a single blow was about as generous as he was capable of being. His greeting was as much a warning as an actual pleasantry. Killua forced his muscles into a relaxed, but ready, state. Tensing up against Illumi would only increase the chance of violence. He couldn't afford to panic and make a stupid mistake.

"I thought we had an agreement, Kil. I let you pass the Hunter Exam and then you would come home." There was an affectation of disappointment which Killua didn't take seriously. The swirling muddling aura that always wrapped around Illumi like a cloak was preventing Killua from reading him.

There were layers to Illumi. The first was the blatant affectations, and then, beneath that, Illumi acted like a nearly emotionless machine chugging along in a preordained fashion, but it was what lay beneath that, the final layer, which Killua needed to understand. It was the final layer which he had never been able to see.

"You said that. I told you that I wasn't coming home," Killua said. No matter which direction he looked he wouldn't be able to escape. A rooftop chase would end in seconds. Illumi was faster, and stronger, than he was.

"I don't understand why you have to be so difficult. Mother is beside herself."

"So she sent you to bring me home?"

"No. I came myself," Illumi said.

Killua lost his concentration, just for a second. His body went lax. Illumi noticed, and a genuine flash of pleasure crossed his face. Killua couldn't recall a single time that Illumi had done something of his own volition, something beyond the dictate of his parents or grandfather. What was he scheming? And why did that worry him more than Illumi following orders?

"I don't care if you're not interested in continuing with the family business right now," Illumi said. "You'll come to your senses about that eventually no matter what I do. I'm just worried about you, Kil."

"I can take care of myself," Killua said.

"Of course. Nobody in this city right now poses a threat to you. But you're stagnating. The Hunter Exam wasn't a challenge, none of the jobs you'll find here are a challenge, and there's nothing in your future here that will be a challenge. I doubt you've gotten any stronger at all since you've left home."

His gritted teeth gave him away. Illumi was right. He might as well be a blade rusting in its sheath. Without a good opponent, or teacher, he was only going to deteriorate.

"So what do you want then?" Killua asked.

"Come home. You can take a break from business and focus on training. I've already asked Father and Grandfather to teach you some new techniques. Passing the Hunter Exam impressed them. How about it…Kil?"

It was a first, only, and final offer. If he said no Illumi would probably knock him out and drag him home. He didn't have the protection that an inner mission would afford him. And being trained by his family was a good offer. It had been months since anyone had shown him a new technique. Ever since he had started acting out they had tried to restrict what he knew. This was as close to them promising to forgive and forget as possible.

Illumi's lustful aura expanded further at the sight of Killua wavering.

"What about a different deal?" Killua asked.

Back to a blank expression. "You're trying my patience. I've already conceded a great deal to bring you home," Illumi said. "A negotiation is a give and take. I've given, and now it's my turn to take."

"You're worried about me getting stronger. What if I prove I can get stronger without coming home? I'll find a teacher who can show me things that the family doesn't know and get strong on my own."

"The power we're going to show you isn't the sort of thing you can pick up off of some amateur from the street."

"I can learn it. No matter what it is," Killua said.

That blank mask stared at him. If Illumi attacked Killua wasn't sure he would even realize it until it was too late. Tense seconds passed. He wondered whether it was worth manipulating his hands into fighting form, or if that would just set Illumi off.

Then a frightening smile broke out over Illumi's face and he said, "Alright, Kil. If you can find someone to teach you how to use Nen in the next month then I won't bring you home. But if you fail, you'll come home and do as I tell you. Without any disobedience."

A promise made between two family members would supersede even the wishes of his parents. If he failed, Illumi would be able to do as he pleased with him. It was not a pleasant prospect, especially given Illumi's new testing of the limits imposed on him by the family. But neither was being brought home. Either way he would be chained. The chains would only be more obvious with this new option.

"Fine. I'll learn Nen within the next month," Killua said.

Illumi stared at him. It was like he was trying to burn Killua's every feature into his memory. He studied him from top to bottom and then, with one final burst of that terrifying aura, and what Killua thought was a glimpse of satisfaction, he vanished. Killua didn't even see which direction he went.

"What the hell is Nen?" Killua asked the empty rooftop. He sighed.

* * *

Killua had always imagined a pirate ship had to look like any other ship. That way they could close in on their prey without any suspicion, until, at the final moment, they would hoist their flag and send cannonballs rocketing.

The captain of the _Gargoyle_ didn't seem to have ever heard the word subtlety in his life. They flew a tattered black flag from the top of their ship at all times, sending every other ship in the vicinity scurrying to safer waters. Armaments were piled in heaps on the ship's deck and there were rusting swords lying in the most unusual spots, as if they had once been stacked neatly but had since fallen about and been disregarded. Killua had seen one new crewmember get a blade through the foot for not watching his step.

Whether the _Gargoyle_ was more dangerous to its crew or its prey was still up for debate.

"How much longer until we overtake their ship?" Killua asked the pirate.

"Another day or two. They're travelling slowly. Must be weighed down by their cargo. They'll be sitting ducks once we're close enough," the pirate said.

"Another day or two," Killua said. They had already been on the water two days. At that speed it would be a week before he got back to Bostnew. And he still hadn't met a single person who had even heard of Nen.

The pirate looked like he wanted to comment on Killua's sullenness but he held back. The rest of the crew had been especially cautious around him since he had decapitated the first mate. They hadn't even complained when he moved into the first mate's quarters. Killua had been hoping that a crew of supposedly vicious pirates would have more backbone, but they were little better than the thugs he ran into in back alleys. It had been a disappointing trip so far.

The only way he had found to pass the time was to antagonize the rest of the crew and see if he could reach a breaking point. So far they had all run away from him rather than try to fight back. He supposed that if the scene with the first mate hadn't been quite so gory he might have gotten more challengers.

Oh well, he thought. It was a good lesson for next time.

"Is there a plan once we reach their ship?" Killua asked.

"We board them, kill anyone who resists, and have them load their cargo onto our ship. Then we sink them," the pirate said. He never made eye contact with Killua, as if doing so would incite a great act of violence.

"Alright. If anyone needs me I'll be training in the cargo hold." Training was basically just physical conditioning: pull-ups, sit-ups, pushups; anything that he could pull off in a confined space.

He didn't think that their target would pose a challenge, or even fight back, but Illumi had a point. He needed to stay sharp. A Zoldyck was prepared for any situation.

* * *

"You want me to feel the sea?" Gon asked. He looked over the edge of the ship. "It's a long way down. I'm not sure how I'd get back up."

The captain shook his head and smacked the back of Gon's head. He called the act conditioning but Gon thought it was just an excuse for him to let off some drunken steam.

"You're not literally feeling the sea," the captain said. "You meditate and try to stretch yourself out. That way you can feel the sea around you with all of your senses, and more. It should be easy out here in the middle of the ocean."

"Why am I doing this? I thought you told me you were going to teach me something," Gon said.

"That's exactly what I'm doing. Now shut up and meditate. Until the pirates catch up to us this is your only job. If you don't figure this out by then I'll toss you overboard."

The captain stomped off to yell at someone else. Gon looked at Katzo nimbly climbing to the crow's nest. He would much rather be up there than sitting on the deck of the busy ship, trying to meditate.

Part of him suspected that the captain had just told him to meditate to placate him and keep him out of the way until the fight. His last attempt at cooking had left half the crew leaning over the side of ship, sending their dinner of fish back into the ocean.

Still, if he didn't at least try then the captain might actually throw him overboard. Gon sat cross legged and tried to focus on the sea around him. The pull of the tide, the bubbling foam of a crashing wave, the dark inky blue of the ocean's deepest depths…

An hour later the captain woke Gon from his nap with a boot to the ribs and warned him that if he caught him napping again he would be sold as bait for shark hunters.

It would, Gon thought, be a long two days.


End file.
